DESCRIPTION: This is an application for a Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from Dr. Richard Cawthon, a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Utah. The long term objectives of the application are 1) to enable the candidate, a researcher in cancer molecular genetics, to change career direction towards research in the genetics of aging, and 2) to identify genes in the human that contribute to longevity and postpone the age of onset of multiple age-related diseases. The candidate's immediate career goal is to obtain training in genetic epidemiology. The candidate expects that this training will facilitate his long term career goal of becoming an independent researcher in the genetics of aging. The candidate hopes to conduct projects that begin with the identification of phenotypes related to senescence in humans and conclude with the identification of genes and environmental factors influencing those phenotypes. The research career development plan consists of taking course work in probability, statistics, epidemiology, and genetic epidemiology, participating in seminars, journal clubs, workshops, and scientific meetings; reading and discussing original research articles in genetic epidemiology; and collaborating with mentors trained in genetic epidemiology to carry out the research plan. The specific aims of the research are 1) to perform a genome-wide scan for genes that determine rates of change in biomarkers of aging, 2) to test candidate loci for linkage to longevity, and 3) to test the hypothesis that mitochondrial inheritance contributes to longevity. Candidate genes tightly linked to longevity will be comprehensively screened for sequence variants associated with longevity.